


Beneath the Radiance of the Infinite Sky

by jolybird



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Camping, Community: hp_nextgen_fest, Family, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Ice Cream, Minor Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-22 19:18:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12488980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolybird/pseuds/jolybird
Summary: Summers at the Potter's cottage had a kind of magic all their own.





	Beneath the Radiance of the Infinite Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks N for the quick beta! This prompt was so so sweet that I knew immediately that I had to write for it! <3

"—and Potter dives—she goes for the Snitch and—"

"Mum, please, I'm trying to make a potion that will make James' nose fall off," Al said, ignoring the way his mother had paused his little sister mid-swoop above his head. Mum had been swinging Lily around in her arms for about five minutes now but he was too invested in his potion to pay either of them any mind at all. 

"—she catches it!" Mum shouted and despite himself, Al laughed as his little sister was thrown into his lap. "West Ham United wins!" 

"West Ham United isn't a Quidditch team, silly. It's Uncle Dean's football team!" Al looked up at his mother as his sister giggled in his lap. She was wearing a West Ham United outfit but that still wasn't Quidditch. Lily's foot was resting in his bowl but baby feet would probably make the potion more powerful. As long as she didn't kick it over. 

"Football, Quidditch, same thing." Mum shrugged as if she wasn't the best Chaser _and_ Seeker in the world. 

" _Mum_ ," James sighed, exasperated, emerging from the house in his swim trunks and his hair still bright pink. It was impressively the same shade as Teddy's next to him. No one knew who had turned his hair that color; Al thought that it might have been Lily because she had giggled for the longest after James had stopped shouting. 

"Aunt Ginny," Teddy agreed, leading James out from the kitchen. 

Mum frowned. "Why are you in your swimming trunks?" 

"I want to go swimming." James smiled. Al knew he was trying to look cute but Mum had her hands on her hips and he wasn't going to get away with _anything_. 

"It's going to be dark soon. It's after supper. Your father is going to be home any minute with the surprise." 

"Mum please, I want to swim." 

"You swam all morning. Seeing as your hair changed colors on its own I'm afraid you're going to turn into a fish if I let you back into the lake." 

"People can't turn into fish." James laughed and Al caught a funny look on Mum's face before Lily swayed dangerously in his arms and he had to focus on making sure she didn't fall. 

"When's Daddy back?" Lily asked, her chubby arms wrapped around Al's neck. Al noticed one of his yellow flowers hadn't made it into his mud-potion yet so he grabbed it and threw it into the bowl, mixing it with his stick. It was green with leaves on it--that made it the best for removing noses. 

"Any minute now, Pygmy puff." 

"I'm hungry." She frowned and Al perked up. Lily had been with Dad when he and Mum were talking about the surprise. Maybe he was getting them some sweets to eat while they roasted marshmallows over the fire. Lily was very bad at secrets.

"Daddy's on his way." 

There was a pop in the driveway and suddenly Teddy and James were sprinting across the yard screaming. There was one terrifying moment in which Lily looked like she was going to tip into Al's mud anti-nose potion but she righted herself and toddled after her brother and cousin, leaving his potion unscathed. 

He was going to keep working on it but his Mum bumped into him gently. "Dad got everyone ice cream." 

"Pumpkin?" Al did actually spill some of his potion in his excitement. Mum nodded and he sprinted off after the others. If James ate his ice cream, he was going to make a potion that would make his toes fall off too. And that would be scary.

Luckily, James was too busy with his own ice cream, and Dad gave Al his ice cream cone before he picked Lily up. That was actually very dangerous because he had his, Lily and Mum's ice creams on a tray in his other hand and if he dropped them Mum was going to be very, very cross. 

"What kind did you get?" Teddy asked and James rolled his eyes. 

"What kind does he always get?" 

"Do you want a bite?" Al offered, solely because he wanted to try James' earl grey and Teddy's butterbeer. They both nodded and they traded their ice cream off for a couple of minutes until Mum had the camp fire going by their tent (not a real tent because Dad lost it again, but a pretend-tent made out of old bedsheets and string). 

The three of them went over to the fire and Al sat next to Dad and Lily because sometimes she didn't finish her ice cream. 

"Who's going to tell the first campfire story?" Mum asked and James and Al both turned to Teddy expectantly. He told the best campfire stories. Dad's favorite was the one with the werewolf detective but Al liked the one with the dragon with glasses. 

Teddy shrugged and waved his ice cream a little as he thought of a story but then he smiled and started, "Once there was an ice cream store and one day it was _robbed_."

"No!" James cried, his voice echoing. Al just took another bite of his ice cream. 

Teddy's werewolf detective solved the mystery of the missing ice cream and then solved the mystery of why all his friends were turning into Toads. Mum told a couple Quidditch stories, including the time Oliver Wood (the best Keeper in the world) vanished right in the middle of a match and how she helped find him in _Canada_. Al hadn't been born yet but Oliver Wood had been very, very, very angry that he missed the end of the game and it ended in a tie. 

Dad told a story about how a dragon chased him around Hogwarts when he was about Teddy's age and Teddy laughed but Al thought that he was telling the truth. He had a lot of older cousins and some of their stories were scary. Maybe there _were_ dragons at Hogwarts, he'd have to ask Uncle Charlie if he knew if his Dad was being silly or not. 

"You need to sleep over more often," James told Teddy who laughed and yawned. 

"I have an idea," Dad said, sitting Lily on the bench next to Al. He stood up and pulled one of the blankets down off the tent. He laid it down on the ground and Mum laughed, "you want to stargaze with this bunch." 

"Yeah!" Al called and he helped Lily over to the blanket where they lay down next to Dad. James came stomping over and lay down on his other side. 

"Where is Sirius?" he asked because James always had to know where his star was. 

"It should be right above the trees." 

Al didn't have to look at his older brother to know he was frowning and Teddy laughed before he said, "well you _are_ too short to see over the counters. Your star is probably just too short to be seen over the trees." 

"What!" James howled, offended and he pretended to fight him. 

The skies sparkled overhead and Al rolled over into his father's side, his hands covering his mouth to stifle his giggling. 

"It's right there, did any of you even look?" Mum sighed and she sat down between Teddy and James to stop them from fighting. Al yawned as Dad pointed up at the sky. 

"What does that look like?" 

"A dragon," Al said, even though his eyes were now closed. He just liked the idea of a dragon in the stars. That would be really cool. 

James shouted that he saw a cat and Al opened his eyes and tried to keep them open but his family's guesses and laughter eventually lulled him right off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can show your appreciation for the author in a comment here or on [livejournal](https://hp-nextgen-fest.livejournal.com/117269.html).


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